ABCA Hall of Fame

A crusader for the growth of baseball on a global scale, Keith Madison was the 2013 recipient of the ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award.

Madison is the winningest coach in the history of Kentucky baseball. He retired from coaching in 2003 after 25 seasons and 737 career victories. Madison coached 85 players who were drafted or signed professional baseball contracts, 17 of which eventually reached the Major League level, including 2006 Cy Young Award recipient Brandon Webb.

A great player in his own right, Madison signed with the Montreal Expos following his senior year of high school, advancing to the Triple-A level at age 19. He also played for three years in the Reds organization, reaching Double-A.

During the off-season of his minor league career, Madison attended Western Kentucky University. Following his graduation from WKU in 1975, Madison coached at Lake Wales High School from 1976-77.

Before taking over at the University of Kentucky, Madison served as a graduate assistant coach at Mississippi State in 1978, earning his Master's in Education there that year.

A native of Brownsville, KY, Madison became UK's 22nd head baseball coach in 1978, at the young age of 26. When he left, he was the third-winningest coach in SEC history behind legends Ron Polk and Skip Bertman. In 25 seasons Madison certainly left his mark, not only on the Kentucky baseball program but also on the national college baseball scene.

Madison has worked with USA Baseball, serving as the national team's pitching coach during the summer of 1999. Coach Madison was honored in 2005 by being inducted into the inaugural class of the University of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, and in 2006, he was inducted into the Kentucky High School Baseball Hall of Fame. The 2007 ABCA Hall of Fame inductee also served as President of the ABCA in 2005.

After a successful coaching career, Madison spent almost two years working in the University of Kentucky Development Office as a Major Gift Officer. After a brief stint with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Madison became the National Director for Baseball with SCORE International. Each November, Coach Madison helps lead almost 200 coaches, professional baseball players and businessmen on a trip to the Dominican Republic where they conduct free clinics to over 6,000 young Dominican baseball players. He also leads college and high school baseball players and teams on trips to the D.R. each year.

Besides being National Baseball Director of SCORE International, Madison is also on the ABCA's Board of Directors, publishes Inside Pitch magazine and provides color for the SEC Network Plus on occasion.

Named after the great Lefty Gomez, this annual award is presented to an individual who has distinguished himself among his peers and has contributed significantly to the game of baseball locally, nationally and internationally. The Lefty Gomez Award is sponsored by Wilson Sporting Goods.